Making a Dead Blow Mallet

In this Instructable i'll show you how i made a Dead Blow Mallet on the Lathe, hope you find some inspiration to make your own!

Be sure to watch the Video above that goes side by side with this article and Subscribe to my youtube Channel for upcoming projects!

Tools Used:

• Tablesaw or Hand Saw
• Planer ( not necessary)
• Wood Lathe ( of course with tools)
• Jacobs chuck for the lathe
• Tape measure
• Calipers
• Drill
• Forster Bits
• Disc Sander ( or just sand by hand)

Materials/Supplies:

• 8"x 3"x 3" (20cm x 7,5cm x 7,5cm)for the head and 2"x 11" (5cm x 28cm) DRY Wood
• Sandpaper
• Boiled Linseed oil
• Lead Shot
• Wood Glue
• 2 part Epoxy Glue

I used some Reclaimed Plum wood for the Handle and the head for the mallet, the Caps that are getting the most abuse are made from Hornbeam which i found in my firewood.

I cut the head to a length of 5" (13cm) the two caps are 1" (2,5cm) the diameter of all is 2.5" (6.3cm) this is the finished size. the handle is cut to a length of 9" (23cm) by 1 1/4 " (3,2cm) also finished diameter. So cut your stock oversized due to loss on the lathe.

I needed to flatten and square up the piece for the handle because mine had some big cracks in it. Afterwards i cut out the usable part with my tablesaw. ( you don't need to do this if your material is in good shape)

I turned the handle between centers to give it a shape that fits my hands. Afterwards i turned down the part that goes in the mallet head to 1 5/16" (3cm) which matches the size of my Forster bit. the handle goes 1 1/2" (4cm) deep , so this is the part that you need to glue in the head.

After sanding the handle to 220 grit i took it from the lathe and laid it to the side.

Next i turned the head round between centers, made a tenon that goes in screw chuck on my lathe and gave it a light sanding. Afterwards i drilled a 1 1/2 (38mm) diameter hole that goes 1" (2.5cm) deep from both sides, so that there is enough place when you drill the hole for the handle ( which matches the part of the handle) don't intersect with each other.

Afterwards i marked the center on the Mallet head and drilled the hole with a 1 5/16" (3cm) Forster bit 1 1/2" (4cm) deep.

I roughed out the hornbeam wood (again) with my Carbide turning tools, marked out the areas which didn't got cracked because the drying, and established a tenon on the end so that i could chuck them up without a tailstock support. I turned the wood down so that it fits snugly into the mallet head about 8/32 (6mm) deep. i repeated this step also for the 2nd time after i cut down the 1st cap.

I have measured out the amount the Shot that fits in the hollowed out part so that the cap seats well and it don't rattles to much. i filled up one side and glued on the one cap with some wood glue. Afterwards i turned it over and repeated this step.

For applying some Clamping Pressure i used the lathe but without the live center to avoid the pressure mark which the point of the live center leaves.

Afterwards i turned down the caps to get a constant thickness and diameter. with the turning part finished i sanded the head to 220grit and parted it off.

I used my Disc sander attachment for my lathe (you can find the video how i made it here ) and sanded the head and the handle to remove the points where they where attached to the lathe.

Afterwards i mixed some two part 5 minute epoxy, applied it to the mallet head ( not the handle) and inserted the handle in it. After 1hour curing time i applied some Boiled linseed oil to protect the Mallet and give it a nice finish.

After applying several coats of linseed oil ( after the previous coat was dry) The Mallet is finished!

I hope you enjoyed this article and found some inspiration to make your own and if you want to see more great projects you can subscribe to my YouTube channel!